Manager Bruce Bochy isn’t just waiting to see Marco Scutaro play a full game. He wants to see Scutaro play back-to-back games, and then another one. That’s an awful lot for a guy who has two at-bats all spring, and late Monday, Bochy all but admitted what has been obvious for weeks. Barring a stunning comeback for his back, Scutaro will start the season on the disabled list.

“The chances of him starting with us have gone way down,” Bochy said. “I just think it’s going to be tough to get him out there before we leave camp.”

They fly home after Wednesday’s game, leaving just three Bay Bridge Series games before the opener. If Scutaro takes the field in any of them, he’ll reset his 15-day disabled list clock, so it’s more likely that he’ll eventually see action at the minor league facility. As of today, Scutaro was still considered several days away from even that possibility. He took BP today on a back field at Scottsdale Stadium and “felt pretty good” according to Bochy, but the Giants will wait until tomorrow to see how Scutaro comes out of this.

“He’s day-to-day,” Bochy said. “When he comes in tomorrow, we’ll see how much we can do with him.”

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Assuming Scutaro starts on the DL, both Ehire Adrianza and Brandon Hicks will make the team. Joaquin Arias, kind of a forgotten man, will be the go-to starter at second base and may hit second occasionally. Bochy said the staff talked about the order today, and Michael Morse and Brandon Belt are also possibilities. (The Belt one makes a ton of sense given his high OBP’s and the fact that he has more speed than Morse, although it’s not as catchy as #ThreeBelt.)

— My feature for tomorrow’s paper is about Ryan Vogelsong (will be posted on our website soon). After the game, Bochy said he thought Vogelsong pitched much better today. Still, the overall spring numbers aren’t pretty for a pitcher who is coming off a disastrous year. Is Vogelsong’s hold on the No. 5 spot a tight one?

“Right now, he’s the guy that’s going out there, I’ll leave it at that,” Bochy said. “We’re not going to talk about what we’re going to do until we talk about it.”

— Michael Morse had two hits and drove in two runs while getting five at-bats as a DH. The plan is for him to play left field tomorrow. It’s weird, but I can really only remember Morse getting two balls in left field the entire spring, and one of them was a liner that he couldn’t catch up to. I’m sure I missed a couple, but the point remains the same: He hasn’t had a whole lot of work out there. Bochy said Morse would do additional defensive drills this week to start getting ready for the regular season.

— It’s funny how hitters can point to an exact moment when they found a fix. Brandon Crawford said his timing at the plate finally felt normal during Thursday’s game in Peoria, and he’s really been having good at-bats over the last few days. He had a double and triple today, giving him a cycle over the past two games.

— Derek Law is still here at a time when most have been sent down. What does it mean? “As much as anything, he has opened up some eyes with what he did in the fall league and here this spring,” Bochy said. “We’ll give him as much experience and exposure as we can to this level of play.”

Translation: Even if Law doesn’t make the opening day roster, he’ll be up at some point. The Giants are getting some nerves and “firsts” out of the way now, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Law get a taste of the 40,000-seat stadium life next weekend during the Bay Bridge Series.

— If you missed it earlier, Mark Minicozzi won the Harry S. Jordan Award. Always fun to look at the list of winners, here are the guys who have won it since 2007, when a young right-hander burst onto the scene: Tim Lincecum (2007), Brian Bocock (2008), Joe Martinez (2009), Darren Ford (2010), Brandon Belt (2011), Dan Otero (2012), Brock Bond (2013).

Current ERAs for the Starting 5:
MadBum 0.00
Hudson 3.72
Cain 5.91
Timmy 6.52
Vogelsong 9.00
Timmy had similar numbers in 2010, that worked out fine. Considering how 2013 went, Vogelsong is the only one I’d worry about, even if he isn’t. Having both Petit and Huff on the 25( probably) doesn’t bode well for Ryan. Huff is no loogy.

channelclemente

Vogelsong, more than most, is dependent on his velocity. What was it today?

paul in p.v.

El Snorkel has the heebee jeebees too. :o/

Michael Scott

With just one lefty in the rotation, It wouldn’t surprise me if Huff was the first choice to take the 5, with Petit in long relief and Runzler with his bags packed for a quick return.

dgg

I couldn’t find it reported anywhere.

channelclemente

I looked too, it wasn’t on MLB.com game summaries/PbyP. If he’s 90-91+, he’ll work this out.

ClutchUp

I thought his location was poor to bad.

channelclemente

Yeah, but that’s release point driven. If his velocity is down, his cutFB and 2 seam don’t seem to have movement, for some reason.

Okay, I have a question (and this includes my reaction to Vogelsong today). How come Cain and Lincecum can get shelled too, and we aren’t wondering about their spots in the rotation? How come there’s a different visceral response?

channelclemente

Because our preconceptions fool us from time to time. That’s why I asked about Vogelsong’s velocity. If he’s 90-91 now, he usually builds speed during a game (1-2 MPH) and between starts, up to 95ish after 8-10 starts. But if he doesn’t get 90-91, his stuff doesn’t seem to break crisply and late, and second time through the LU, he gets shelled because they time him.

channelclemente

I had heard Seaver was in the early stages of Alzheimer’s. Really sad, great guy and an even greater pitcher.

dgg

I looked yesterday for Cain’s ERA on the SF Giants page, but couldn’t find it. On the chart for Pitching Leaders, Tim is reported to be third at 6.52, with WHIP at 1.55, also third. I checked again just now. Here’s the chart:

SPRING 2014 LEADERS
PITCHING LEADERS ERA/WHIP

1. Bumgarner 0.00 0.71
2. Hudson 3.72 1.50
3. Lincecum 6.52 1.55

channelclemente

If you look on Baseball Prospectus, they’re spliting out the ST major stats in a seperate field.

Sure, but 2013 was a screwy year with the injury. Hard to figure. The first part of 2013, I’d attribute to that stupid WBC tournament plus the WS run in 2012, myself.

But their could be something to that chest tightness/rib issue. Loosening up the connective tissue and getting more torso rotation during a season could explain the steady creep in velocity he gets during games and during the season. Age spares no one.

E-B

Michael Scott & Lefty are usually correct on these baseball guesses. (and when they take opposite stances, they are always always correct!)

channelclemente

I read that, if I recall. Almost makes one cry, except there but for the grace of God go I.

Michael Scott

“We’re not going to talk about what we’re going to do until we talk about it.”
I’ve tried that gibberish on the wife. It didn’t work. No poker. ” But we didn’t get to talk about it”
“And we’re not going to- pal.” (Obviously she reads my comments)

Foothills Ryan

Nice scouting, Skip.

2holehitting

Because they are born and bread fan favorites that have proven themselves of past greatness for several years. Timmy has been bad for the past 2 years and getting worse. It would not surprise me for another 4.6+ era for Timmy or over 4 for Cain. Vogelsong had a great early story of comeback from nowhere but has been in decline since his great first half of 2011. The team born and raised gets the love the rest the crew don’t care. I have a suspicion that all the pitchers are looking similar for speed and stuff. that allows teams to get timed against them

Foothills Ryan

5:95? Is that a more realistic line for “Scoots”?

We’ve been ahead of the Scutaro situation for a long time. No reason to rush. Baseball has so many rules. I get lost in them. They can retroactively DL him, and then he can play a certain amount of rehab games before he has to be activated or sent to the 60 day DL. All options are in play. Even the nuclear option.

The other fun rule that came into play was the departure and the compensation of Tony Abreu. Here’s roughly a quarter of what we promised you. Good luck. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Don’t suck next time.

Baseball.

ClutchUp

CC has a point but IMO he needs command vs velo

ClutchUp

I’ll respond by just saying you point is valid. We are lovers of baseball who follow one/two teams. We glom on to “Everyday-Man” – like Vogey with his journeyed past. We see US in Vogey. We relate to Nicole and to Vogey’s meal plan. Cain however is the HORSE, the Stallion and Tim/the Freak has 2 Cy’s and a great 10 WS and a 12 WS that novels are written about (bullpen)

Vogey reminds us of our own flaws and frailties …

ClutchUp

I truly think he set himself BEHIND by trying to implement that Kershaw TILT. My goodness I would have tried to emulate (1) a righthanded pitcher (2) and somebody NOT named Kershaw. Now 32 is behind…..he’s at the beginning of ST now that he has S-canned his new fangled delivery. I mean when has THAT ever worked = Zito – Zito – Zito trying 32 different deliveries….praying with Tom House etc. A pitcher is what he is….refine what one has.

dgg

And sure enough, here are Cain’s ST stats for 2014. ERA = 5.91. WHIP = 0.938. What the heck’s wrong with the SF Giants page? Cain should be listed #3.

Tim has pitched 19.1 innings in ST so far this year. Matt has pitched 10.2 innings.

Michael Scott

Matt was 5.91. It’s on the ST team stats on the team website. I’m not bagging on Vogelsong, it’s like you said- his 2013 makes his spring troubling. Cain had an excellent second half and Timmy’s 2013 showed marked improvement from 2012. There’s nothing at all out of line about worrying about Vogelsong -a 36 YO coming off of a very poor year-and an injury. I’m also concerned about Timmy, but Vogie’s situation is not comparable at all, IMO.

YogiBarrister

He thought he might have Alzheimer’s, the diagnosis was Lyme Disease.

Samhatesbelt

What were the odds that Lou Gehrig would come down with Lou Gehrig’s disease?

Samhatesbelt

Probably for the same reason Zito got shelled for 6.5 years before getting pulled.

YogiBarrister

Seaver was right. Not all outs are equal, not all WHIPs are equal, not all runs allowed are equal. La Russa understands, do the WAR nerds? You’re a starting pitcher, success is measured by winning the games you start.

* This message was brought to you by the Committee to Restore Wins

Samhatesbelt

Alex says: although it’s not as catchy as #ThreeBelt.
———

I prefer #seatbelt.

Samhatesbelt

From HBT:

Tim Lincecum remains an enigma. While some hoped his no-hitter last season would be the start of a turnaround for the former two-time Cy Young Award winner, he posted a mediocre 4.54 ERA in 13 starts after the 148-pitch outing. Looking back over the past two seasons, only Edinson Volquez has a higher ERA. The Giants paid big money to keep him around, but with his drop in velocity, there’s very little to indicate a return to elite form or even close to it.

Foothills Ryan

What happened to Tony Abreu getting full salary with release as you thought he would because he signed before and arbitration hearing? You see, Num-num, the rules get complicated and you’re not as smart as you thought. That is all.

Foothills Ryan

What happened to Tony Abreu getting full salary with a release as you thought he would because he signed before an arbitration hearing? You see, Num-num, the rules get complicated and you’re not as smart as you thought. That is all.

Samhatesbelt

Cool they saved 500k. You were right for once. Congratulations. Yes the rules are complicated. Kevin Frandsen who was in a similar situation got his 900k guaranteed when he was cut earlier in the week. He just has to go to AAA to accept it.

Samhatesbelt

Why the double post?

South City Jim

Check this out. Zito is so much into the St. Louis psyche that they mention him in a preview of the upcoming season as if he’s still on the G’s. 🙂

Nobody has taken as much joy in the misfortunes of Abreu as you have. You have some real issues hoping the team that is paying Zito 7 mil this year saves 500k on Abreu

Samhatesbelt

They probably saw Zito was on the payroll for 7 mil and didn’t realize he was gone.

Zito 7 mil
Lincecum 17.5 mil
Vogey 300k + 5 m

That’s more than Kershaw money.

South City Jim

Zito’s getting $1 million plus 1% interest for each of the next seven years. Wish I could get 1% interest.

Michael Scott

An enigma? He’s a guy trying to make the transition from power pitcher to a finesse pitcher. It’s not unusual at all and obviously he has a greater chance of successfully altering his style and pitching effectively than a soft baller trying to go the other way.

MLBSF

If I recall, he was also “running on fumes” when he kicked the Cardinals’ behinds in 2012. smh

MLBSF

Has the Dodger fan who says the Giants are already “2 games” behind posted anything new tonight? He is one of my favorite posters because he is entertaining.

I’m busy working on my 2014 spring training grades. You won’t want to miss them. Just a hint — there will be F’s!

Samhatesbelt

That guy is more entertaining that ClutchDown, Footsie Ryan, or channelinclement

Samhatesbelt

Will you be grading the Giants Extra posters this year as well?

MLBSF

This is true. Yes, I will be grading the posters, but I don’t do that until the all star break.

MLBSF

For some reason Lefty, your comment seems like a poor choice of words. But then again, my mind is in the gutter to be honest.

DrLefty

Baggarly said something like “If you think you had a bad day, consider Tony Abreu–out of a job with only 25% of his salary.”

Well, that’s one way to look at it. Another way is he’s getting paid $186K to do nothing. I’ll sign up for that “bad day” anytime, please.

DrLefty

It’s a fair question and there are lots of good answers below, but here’s the simplest one: Vogelsong is 35 and Cain and Lincecum are 29.

paul in p.v.

Snorkel wuz quite disappointed cuz he luvs Vogey – but maybe he’s just a journeyman pitcher who captured lightning in a bottle for one season – I think Lefty said, he’s good for 3 innings max – an ideal long reliever now… :o(

DrLefty

Cain missed a start with that weird rainout and then his latest turn was taken during a minor league game–so wouldn’t be counted in his totals.

For that matter, Bumgarner pitched four innings (scoreless, of course) against the Giants’ “Future Stars”–also not counted in his totals.

paul in p.v.

Um – Freak and Cain are 30 – Vogey’s 36?

(Besides, Snorkel is quite worried about the Freak going the same way as Vogey.)

paul in p.v.

I should know this – is Huff a starter??? :o?

South City Jim

Hate to admit it but I find Dodgerblue amusing as well. I wonder if he’s the former “Hitman”. Similar sense of misguided but effective humor.

SurfCity

They mention all the pitchers except for Vogelsong, and then they mention Zito. Guess they don’t know Vogelsong is the new Zito! 🙂

dgg

This great story includes “Tom Seaver’s Rules for Pitching.” Two of his rules:

– “A pitcher should never get beat in a crisis situation with anything but his best pitch.”

– “A pitcher must always avoid his W.C.S.”

Seaver: “I always tried to avoid my Worst Case Scenario, and if I couldn’t, I had to have a plan on how to deal with it when it came up. This one game against the Giants, you can guess what my W.C.S. was. Willie McCovey, with the bases loaded.”

Guest

What happened to Tony Abreu getting full salary with a release as you
thought he would because he signed before an arbitration hearing? You
see, Num-num, the rules get complicated and you’re not as smart as you
thought. That is all.

giantc

True that he has chance and I hope he does it, but $35M is a lot to spend for a No. 4 starter that the Giants hope can transition into a finesse pitcher. I do believe he has a chance to succeed because his secondary pitches are still nasty. Vogelsong OTOH looks like a $5.3M dollar batting practice pitcher last year and so far this year — Vogelsong also has had a noticeable drop in velocity. The Giants have real questions marks right now at #4 and #5 and the bullpen. I think 3 of the pitchers in Fresno’s pen may be better than what the Giants are bringing up north. Scutaro is looking like Sanchez part II.

Guest

He switches to guest to rec his other comments and sometimes he forgets to switch back.

dgg

Yes, I suppose. But then there’s Hudson.

dgg

“and a 12 WS that novels are written about (bullpen)”

This is one of your best posts ever, CU.

Bapah

No chance you’ll ever be in the Hall of Fame. For that matter not own a winery on Diamond Mountain either.

The Oracle

Thanks for the link. The extreme stat head argument that wins are irrelevant is ridiculous. Wins may not tell the entire story, but the best pitch to the circumstances. All outs are definitely not created equal.

pacman68

Spring training means nothing. It’s just dry humping. Next week when the season begins. That’s when the fun starts.

livefreerdi

Has any pledged not to risk ruining their season with counterproductive head first slides? Yes, you Brandon

PerSpeier35

Thanks in advance MLBSF. I will take a A please, size XL, preferably in orange or black but anything is fine as long as it’s not blue.

DrLefty

And you too, Pablo.

DrLefty

Yes, but we were talking about reacting to bad outings, and Hudson’s most recent one was excellent. If he had 3 really bad ones out of four like Vogelsong’s had, we might be singing a tune about 37-year-olds and bad ankle injuries. In both cases, it’s the Occam’s Razor explanation.

Foothills Ryan

Crawdad? The guy with the busted finger last year? Don’t tread on him or his fingers.

Foothills Ryan

Panda belly flops? All part of the entertainment at the zoo I suppose.

dgg

Just what this blog does not need: another self-appointed commenter-grader. This has been done before, a couple years ago. One of the regular commenters graded most of the other regulars. cc had the best response to that self-appointed grader.

Foothills Ryan

You said “dry humping”. LOL. Which can be fun until you get Dodgerblue.

dgg

“Timmy has been bad for the past 2 years and getting worse.”

This is simplistic, and inaccurate.

dgg

So this means Tim has pitched 19.1 innings in ST which count toward his totals, and Cain has pitched 10.2 innings which count, plus additional innings which don’t count. ST stats are skewed. It’s time for ST to be over.

Foothills Ryan

Rumor has it that Travis Ishikawa is lined up for a roster spot with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Barring a trade, Ishikawa would be the left handed platoon half along with Gaby Sanchez and be in line for the majority of AB’s.

Aubrey Huff is now a Bay Area radio personality of sorts and has joined Twitter. I’m always curious when someone joins Twitter who they follow first, so I scrolled through his list of follows. Interesting–he follows a lot of MLB teams and some star players. He follows Giants’ beat writers (Schulman, Baggarly) and several former teammates (Cody Ross, Jeff Keppinger, Brett Pill)–but not a single current Giant.

DrLefty

Good for Ishi. Good guy & good Giant.

Bapah

Here’s one-
Since 1900, name the feat that is rarer in baseball
– a Perfect Game,
-an unassisted Triple Play,
-two Grand Slams in a game by a hitter,
-four Home Runs in a game by a hitter,
-or 10+ RBI’s in a game by a hitter.

MLBSF

“One of the regular commenters”
Please like it could have been anyone else but me. smh

Samhatesbelt

Only 153 hours until the return of the Brandon Belt Watch:

channelclemente

Halladay had some significant success, as I recall, with a similar transitions.

Foothills Ryan

That’s a good one. Hmmm, which is the “most rare”? I’m going with unassisted triple play.

channelclemente

When one is treated as viciously as Huff was, you wonder?

DrLefty

Was he treated “viciously” by his own teammates? Baggarly was pretty hard on him, for sure–even still is, sometimes. Baggs is of the strong opinion that Huff took the money and basically quit on the team for the next two years. He also implied that Huff’s “breakdown” was something of a cover story by the team rather than an actual illness/condition to feel sympathy over.

That all sounds pretty harsh to me, and I will always value Huff’s substantial contributions to the magical 2010 season. On the other hand, Baggarly is around the team all the time and sees things we don’t. On the other other hand, beat writers are human and can be biased just like the rest of us.

Bottom line for me: Huff was a 2010 hero, just like Andres Torres, just like Cody Ross, just like Edgar Renteria. The Giants did right by him with a big contract after 2010 and handled his subsequent struggles mostly with grace. They invited him to the 2012 Ring Ceremony and he came (unlike a certain Beard) and was loudly cheered by the fans.

Was Baggarly too hard on him? Were (some) fans? I honestly don’t know and it doesn’t matter to me. He’s moved on, so have we, and I’ll always remember 2010. I wish him well and actually think he’ll do great on the radio.

…it was fun watching Ishi @ 1b – during the replay of the original Sanchie’s No hitter last night on Giants Classics. Whiteside was masterful behind the plate and Renteria made a nice glove ball exchange to nail a speedy runner. Of course Rowand did his thing. Shots of Sanchie’s family in the stands: Priceless!

channelclemente

A splendid examination of Cardinals baseball, and why they are and stay so damned good year in and year out.

Bochy said yesterday he would get Buster a start at 1B today. He hasn’t played there all spring. Susac catching MadBum, though. Big day for the kid.

channelclemente

You made a comment, I shared my opinion. I pretty much discount anything editorial Baggerly has to say. He usually gets his facts straight, but I find his editorial comments self serving and vacuous.

ClutchUp

95.7 the game signed up Aubrey right after they fired their entire rise guys threesome of Dibley, Whitey Gleason and Mark Kreidler and hired Damon Bruce from KNBR’s 1050 to move into their 3-7pm slot (giving no competition to Tolbert by the way). The tough thing for The Game is they’re moving two guys who did much later shows – Ric Bucher and Chris Townsend to the 6am hour, meaning Bucher who handles on the court Warrior bits – to have some quick turn arounds from his residence in HMB. THUS they hired Huff as the third wheel to the new morning show duo/threesome starting Monday, March 31st

ClutchUp

He wasn’t treated poorly at ALL by teammates, coaching staff or front office. The only one who had/still has issues with what Huff’s worth to the team was/is Baggarly. He claims inside sources (again). Ask #17’s teammates who CARRIED them in 2010 until Posey, Burrell, Ross, Lopez and Ramirez were acquired. Amazing that THIS t.e.a.m. won the Ship

G-E bloggers are starting to treat you like: DodgerBlue, Hitman and Dbacks. Bravo – you’re another non Giant-Team fan who likes to hoover and hover on a SF Giant site. As Lefty intimated below, your knowledge base ‘might-be’ slipping as todays lineup with 28 at first base was well known (by Giant fans)

ClutchUp

….he has issues with windy days due to the comb-over…

channelclemente

When a guy has ‘head’ problems, as Baggarly said, ballplayers aren’t that kind to him. In any case, he’s got a bad taste about something (Huff) in his mouth.

ClutchUp

Good addition for good guy Dallas Braden. The former A’s pitcher, who threw a perfect game for Oakland on Mother’s Day 2010, will take his baseball knowledge to ESPN this year. The network announced that Braden will join its “Baseball Tonight” crew as a studio analyst. Braden, who attended high school in Stockton and was a 24th-round draft pick of the A’s in 2004, pitched his final game in 2011. Braden made his retirement official in January after returning from multiple shoulder surgeries. ESPN also announced that former managers Ozzie Guillen and Eric Wedge will join the network.

-Associated Press-

channelclemente

There are starting to be comments and analysis showing up that suggest Kershaw may have a problem. Velocity down, ball up, new mechanics, ….

DrLefty

Fair enough.

ClutchUp

I disagree, all the pre-ring ceremony hubub at ATT had Huff not attending in 2013 but Theriot is the only guy who missed. Huff asked Baggarly specifically to keep the Thong item in-house but the bugger couldn’t resist and then when every single writer new that the Mrs. had filed for divorce – Baggarly took glee in making it even more public.

* Btw – who Huff is/is not following on twitter is not significant IMO.

DrLefty

Excellent. I don’t want Kershaw to get hurt necessarily. But it would be nice if he’d just drop back to the pack a bit. Lotta miles on him for 26 years old.

I didn’t say it was significant. I just said it was interesting. He’s following people like Clayton Kershaw and Dan Strailly but no one currently on the Giants. He’s about to become a Bay Area radio guy, so you’d think he’d want to keep up with Brandon Crawford, Sergio Romo, etc., just to be in the loop. But maybe he’ll get there; he only just joined Twitter.

channelclemente

There is a rumor floating around (unconfirmed) that the White Sox are interested in shopping Chris Sales.

Dodgerblue

Forget the haters Vogie. You got your 6 million guaranteed this year. Keep going out every 5 days and pitch to that 7.00 era you washed up scrub LOL. Between you, Lincecum and Scutaro the Gnats got 31 million down the drain this season LOL

channelclemente

Kershaw is rumored to have arm/mechanics problems.

Dodgerblue

Lincecum and Vogelsong don’t have any problems. They are just washed up and done LOL

Foothills Ryan

Back up the truck with a few of the top 50/top 100 prospects in MLB/MiLB and he’s yours/theirs.

$90 mil. on guys who suck and/or can’t stay healthy and/or are idiots (Beckett, Crawford, Kemp). So who’s stupid about spending their money? A $225 mil. payroll and you still don’t have a decent/healthy 4th or 5th starter, a 2B, or a bench?

Oh, and if you really think Dan Haren’s going to be worth $13 mil., well, to quote you, “LOL.”

Dodgerblue

I agree with the list but that’s what stupid GMs do. Give contract to old and washed up scrubs. Just ask Colletti, Sabean, Amaro and Moreno. But at least the Dodgers got money to spend…

This will be a nice one to watch. It’ll just have to be on WI television. Cheddar anyone? Low cheese today.

ClutchUp

Opie’s windup mechanics have always been Topsy turvy….as in Up and Down and Up again – then he breaks his hands etc.

IMHO Kershaws biggest thing is how DECEPTIVE he is first and his stuff secondary….

channelclemente

Look at the side by side gifs in the HBT article. He’s now more on top of the ball, and he’s changed his torso rotation. Net result, loss of 1-3 MPH. These aren’t small changes for a well tuned clock like Kershaw.

I wonder when this organization is going to start drafting better when it comes to position players. I can’t believe, for example, that there are no good 3B prospects should Sandoval (very likely) will bolt.

Samhatesbelt

I’m not like Belt. I don’t shoot my wad during Spring Training. I’ll have some new material for opening day.

channelclemente

There is, Hicks and Adrianza. Both can play 3B, SS, or 2B.

DrLefty

And I didn’t even mention Uribe.

To be fair–and I can’t believe I’m actually saying this–Sabean and Colletti don’t belong on the same list as Amaro. Sabean’s won three pennants and two World Series; Colletti has one of the top teams in baseball right now. Amaro’s taken one of the best teams in baseball and not only turned it into a joke but a joke with no future.

As for the Angels, they’ve made some really stupid moves, but this offseason seemed to be a turn in the right direction. They actually have some pitching now and made a couple smart trades.

Samhatesbelt

I wouldn’t bet on them drafting better in terms of positional players. The only one drafted since the mid 80’s who has been an All Star caliber player is Posey.

channelclemente

They traded Napoli for a coke and fries, basically.

Moooooooooose

I’ll go with the RBIs

Samhatesbelt

He is signed through 2019 for 56 mil. Top line starters are getting 25 mil per season. It will take multiple top line prospects to get him.

She definitely fought her way to be 1st in line at the orange Koolaid bowl.

DrLefty

You all know the Giants are on MLBN today, right? I don’t know if it’s live or delayed, though. I don’t get MLBN here in the hotel, so I’ll watch on my computer on MLB.TV. (Conference #1 is winding down, and I’m chilling here in Portland before Conference #2 starts on Thursday.)

PerSpeier35

Obviously the ratings were poor but I thought the Rise Guys did a good job. They were on topic, sports only, no other lame banter about who-knows-what like Tolbert, etc. Those three guys worked well together, IMO it was a pretty good show and way better than the competition on KNBR. Bucher & Towny in the AM – blah.

channelclemente

Find a good bottle of Pinot. Some good ones up there, I’ve heard.

PerSpeier35

Morse is (hopefully) like Pat the Bat, three AB’s, hopefully jacks one, then put in the defensive specialist.
I agree on Scutaro, it’s looking like a lost cause, sadly he has broken down.

MLBSF

In enemy Trailblazer territory are we?
Hopefully you don’t have red and black in your outfit!

DrLefty

Funny you should mention. Going on a wine tour on Saturday–van driver taking me, hubby (who flies in tomorrow), and a couple of friends around to wineries for the day. Pinot noir, syrahs, and pinot grigio, is what I’ve heard about Oregon wines. Riesling, too, but I just don’t know if I can.

This is a fantastic foodie town, too. Had an amazing Peruvian meal last night–best of all, the bill was picked up by my editor.

MLBSF

I agree but without the LOL. smh

DrLefty

I got lost on the way from the light rail to my hotel the first night. REALLY lost. I ended up in front of the Moda Center where the Blazers play, and thank God there was a cab to take me to my hotel. So yes, I’ve been in enemy territory!

channelclemente

I’ve heard a vineyard named Bergstrom (Pinot Noir) is good. See if your editor will pick up the tasting fee. It’s always nice to take taxi fair back, just in case one spot sticks in you mind.

ClutchUp

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ClutchUp

Time for your mudpack treatment at Betty’s salon.

ClutchUp

Belt is a GG firstbaseman. Nobody else on the roster is. That would (still) weaken two positions.

ClutchUp

Careful Hubby doesn’t also get lost. You know (also) what Portland is known for – right?

Anti-Lasorda

I would still do that deal for a LH #1 with cost control. Pick who you want from the farm… 3 or 4 guys even. As long as the physical on his arm and shoulder look good.

Anti-Lasorda

Hardest part for ESPN to get good talent is finding a athlete willing to live in Bristol. With Braden they struck gold, like everyone else he would do anything to get out of Stockton…..

2holehitting

Yah and Pablo is skinny. Belt was 14 out 21 in Fielding percentage among MLB first baseman. Quite a far cry from a gold glove. That is the same dream world you had with stating Crawford was a gold glove SS as well. Who by the way was 14thout of 20 in FPTC according the MLB.com. Sorry you can not lead the league in errors and the worst tem fielding percentage and have half you claiming half the infield to be gold glove caliber. That just does not make reality. Talk is cheap, facts are facts

2holehitting

let see Bary Zito was a better option than Timmy in 2012 for the playoffs. Sounds like Timmy was pretty bad. Last year 4.35 ERA. That is a far cry from 4 years of sub 3.5 ERA. Timmy has not learned how to pitch. The league caught up with him and h has not adapted. OK the 4.35 of 13 is better than the over 5 ERA of 2012.

Samhatesbelt

Would you give up Crick, Escobar, Susac, and Hembree for Sale?

Anti-Lasorda

Tempting but a little too rich there. Since you’re taking all the frontline guys, you only get 3. I can afford to loose Hembree & Susac pretty easy, but if you take Crick I get to keep Escobar. If you take Escobar, you can pick someone else, maybe Blackburn?

Samhatesbelt

Id imagine that’s the kind of deal the white sox are looking for. They don’t have to trade him so they are just floating it out in case somebody wants him bad enough that they give them 3 or 4 frontline guys.

Anti-Lasorda

Don’t disagree, but Why wait for Crick when you can have Sale right now with cost control for the next 6 years? I wouldn’t mind pulling that trigger. The 1 inning bullpen guys are deep in Fresno, and Law has passed Hembree on the depth chart, Susac’s loss is mitigated by Sanchez short term. I think I could do that deal as long as I don’t loose both Crick and Escobar.

Nate’sFanMom

I meant as an everyday player.

The name Adam Duvall stirred some hope, but he could be another Kevin Frandsen type.

channelclemente

He’s A or AA isn’t he? In any case, he’s a work in progress at the best.